[2] Look for this box at retail, or order it online (both photos courtesy Diestel Family Ranch).

GREAT NEWS FOR WHITE MEAT LOVERS

If you want roast turkey on your Thanksgiving or Christmas table but only care about white meat, we have a treat for you.

Diestel Family Ranch has launched its new Holiday Cook-In-Bag Turkey Breast Roast for this holiday season.

Serving a premium roast Diestel turkey, for a smaller group of six to eight, just got way easier.

Pre-packaged in a BPA-free bag that locks in all of the bird’s natural juices, this turkey breast is lightly brined, perfectly seasoned, and ready to pop into the oven.

That’s right: There’s no prep, no messy roasting pan. Just put the bagged turkey in a pan and place it in the oven at 350°F. Even the most kitchen-averse host will find it a snap to cook.

And to carve as well: It’s boneless!

In just one and half hours in the oven (three hours if it’s frozen), you’ll have a turkey breast so moist and flavorful, you’ll be delighted.

The 3.75-pound turkey breast is nicely seasoned with basil, black pepper, chili peppers, garlic, onion, oregano, rosemary, sage, sea salt and smoked paprika. It is:

Get yours for $43.16 at DiestelFamilyRanch.com.
 
 
ABOUT DIESTEL FAMILY RANCH

The California-based Diestel Family Ranch is one of the few, small, family-owned and operated ranches left in the nation.

Run by a team of passionate and forward-thinking, fourth-generation turkey farmers, the family’s high standards have remained unchanged since the ranch’s founding in 1949. Due to careful farming practices and an emphasis on quality craftsmanship. Diestel’s products are always juicy and tender.

The company produces both holiday turkeys and year-round products. For more information visit visit DiestelFamilyRanch.com.

WHAT’S AN ADVENT CALENDAR?

Advent, from the Latin word adventus, means “coming.” It’s a time of waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus, on Christmas Day.

A tradition begun by Lutherans in Germany, the first known Advent calendar dates to 1851. Its purpose: to count down the 24 days of December until Christmas.

Most Advent calendars begin on December 1st, regardless of when Advent is celebrated in any particular year (it’s the fourth Sunday prior to Christmas, which can range from November 27th to December 3rd).

Early Advent calendars were handmade. Some were strictly religious in nature; others were secular. Some involved affixing colored pictures to a piece of cardboard. Children’s versions had pieces of candy affixed to cardboard. Some have been handed down as treasured family heirlooms.

The first printed Advent calendar was published in 1908, and the now-familiar versions followed, with windows that opened out of the cardboard to reveal a religious image, inspirational photo or, for children, a treat or a coin.

Today, most Advent calendars are made for children: large and festive rectangles of printed cardboard with a different window to be opened on each of the 24 days. The more elaborate versions have a small gift behind each window: a charm, a tiny toy, a piece of candy.

Chocolatiers create versions with a different piece of chocolate behind each window.

You can find beer Advent calendars in Europe (actually a box of 24 beers), and there’s a wine Advent calendar right here in the U.S., with 24 compartments of wine (see below).

The chocolate and wine Advent calendars we present here are memorable gifts. Don’t tarry: These items sell out quickly, and need to be in the hands of the recipients by December 1st.
 
 
DANDELION CHOCOLATE: CHOCOLATE ADVENT CALENDAR

Dandelion Chocolate, a San Francisco-based maker of artisan chocolate bars, partnered with some of their favorite Bay Area chocolatiers and treat makers to craft “the Advent calendar of our childhood dreams.”

It’s also a labor of love for small mom-and-pop chocolate makers to craft an extra 800 or 1600 bonbons in the months before the holidays. That’s why only 800 Advent calendars are available.

The gift contains four pounds of chocolate! Each large calendar contains 25 hand-picked, treat-filled, reusable treasure boxes playful decorated with hand-drawn birds, animals, plants or flowers that are local to the Bay Area (photos #1 and #2).

The chocolates inside are crisp, smooth, or chewy; chocolatey, fruity, or nutty. Each beautifully crafted, the array of flavors and textures changes daily, and each treat contains some element of Dandelion’s cacao nibs or single-origin chocolate.

Just a taste of the confection: Burnt Honeycomb, Caramel Crunch, Gingersnap Praline, Mini Blood Orange and Smokey the Bourbon Bonbons; Oolong Crisp Bar; and Speculoos Coffee Tile.

This year’s calendar, $110, is illustrated with by local artist Maggie Enterrios, with calligraphy are from Lisa Quine. Every calendar in the collection is numbered by hand and comes tied in a shimmering forest-green bow.

GET YOURS NOW, AT DANDELIONCHOCOLATE.COM.

Also consider Dandelion’s assortment of single origin chocolate bars, wrapped in beautiful paper with an explanation of the origin and its flavors (photo #3). You can give one as a stocking stuffer, or a gift set.
 
 
DIRECT WINES: WINE ADVENT CALENDAR

This innovative wine Advent calendar (photos #4 and #5) was created for those who delight in a daily glass of wine.

It contains 24 quarter-bottles (187ml) of top-quality wines from winemakers around the world, including:

 
Behind each of the calendar’s 24 windows, the quarter-bottle provides a generous glassful (187ml) of world-class wine from top winemakers around the globe.

It’s a daily celebration of the season and of the grape.

[1] A bite-a-day of artisan chocolate.

[2] The chocolate Advent calendar from Dandelion Chocolate (photos #1 and #2 courtesy Dandelion Chocolate).

[3] A glass of wine a day for the 24 days before Christmas (photos #3 and #4 courtesy Direct Wines).

[4] A glass of wine a day for the 24 days before Christmas (photos #3 and #4 courtesy Direct Wines).

[5] A glass a day, through Christmas Eve.

The gift is $129, including shipping.

GET YOURS AT:

 
Editor’s Note: So sorry, we have just been advised that the wine Advent calendar is sold out.

[2] Ocean Spray Cran-Cherry is also available in a diet version (both photos courtesy Ocean Spray).

For non-alcoholic drinking during the holiday season, offer something more exciting than club soda or cider. Cranberry mocktails are especially popular during the holiday season, their bright red color often accented with a green sprig of rosemary or at least, a wedge of lime.

There are many cranberry mocktail recipes out there for your perusal. This spicy mocktail recipe, sent to us from Ocean Spray, was the first place winner in a contest a few years ago.

The recipe was created by Sharee Hunt, a chef and mixologist.

You can make a pitcher in advance, and turn it into a cocktail for those who request it, by adding vodka or tequila.

Both the juice and the ginger ale/ginger beer are available in diet versions, for a low-calorie drink. (Our favorite diet ginger beer is Gosling’s).
 
 
RECIPE: SPICY GINGER CRANBERRY CHERRY MOCKTAIL

Ingredients For 2 Drinks

 
Preparation

1. CUT the lime in half, and slice a wheel for garnish. Squeeze the juice from the other half into a cocktail shaker.

2. MUDDLE the jalapeño slices and rind from the squeezed lime half in the shaker.

3. ADD the vodka, cranberry juice and ginger ale/ginger beer. Shake, strain and serve over ice. Garnish with a lime wheel.

Italy’s most famous Italian liqueur, Disaronno, has launched this year’s limited-edition “Disaronno Wears…” bottle.

This year, Disaronno wears Trussardi.

For the past several years, Italy’s most famous liqueur has partnered with a top Italian fashion house to create a limited-edition bottle. This year, the bottle is “dressed” in a Trussardi pattern; the chartreuse figure at the top right of the bottle is an interpretation of Trussardi’s greyhound logo.

Past designers have included Etro, Missoni, Moschino, Roberto Cavalli and Versace.

These bottles become collectors’ items, so grab them for amaretto-loving friends.

The limited-edition collaboration also includes a set of six mini-bottles, which you can apportion as stocking stuffers.
 
 
MORE ABOUT DISARONNO

From the time it was first imported into the U.S, in the 1960s, Disaronno, an amaretto liqueur, quickly became a hit in cocktails and food preparation. Americans loved the marzipan flavor.

Other brands of amaretto are available in the U.S., but Disaronno is the premium brand in the category.

By the 1980s, it was second in sales only to Kahlùa. (Today, the top liqueurs are Baileys Irish Cream and Malibu Caribbean Rum, but Disaronno remains in the Top 10.)
 
How To Enjoy Disaronno

Our two most frequent uses of amaretto are with after-dinner coffee, and as a flavoring in cakes, mousse and ice cream. Amaretto ice cream is a blast, alone or with a slice of amaretto-infused pound cake (need we mention amaretto ice cream on a brownie with fudge sauce?).

Here’s our list of almost 40 ways to use amaretto, both sweet and savory.

[2] Three of the six miniatures.

Here’s the history of Disaronno.

Here’s the difference between a cordial, an eau de vie, a liqueur and schnapps.

Trivia: No almonds are used to make Disaronno. Rather, the marzipan-like flavor is achieved through apricot kernel oil, burnt sugar and a variety of spices.

[2] Finally, the greenest person can use K-cups (photo courtesy Tayst Coffee).

Committed environmentalists and those who try to live green are in a quandary: They may want the ease of single-serving K-cups, but can’t abide the plastic and foil sent to the landfill.

Tayst Coffee, which has an office coffee program for businesses that use hundreds of K-cups a month, developed an alternative: biodegradable/compostable K-cups for both Keurig and Nespresso machines.

Individuals can buy them too, via a monthly delivery “club.” You can buy 30, 40, or 60 pods a month, starting at $22.00.

You can try it yourself, with a free trial shipment that leads into the club.

Coffee options include

 
You can try a sampler before making a decision. You can change your selection or cancel at any time.

You can send a one-time gift, or a 3- or 6-month club.

Head to Tayst.com for your sample box or to send a gift.
 
 
BEYOND BIODEGRADABLE

Tayst Coffee produces its products following the guidelines of:

 
It’s coffee you can feel good about drinking, and gifting.